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9/03/2012

Will future Olympics have fierce debates over the length of artificial limbs?

Oscar Pistorius made quite the splash in the London Olympics by being the first person who had his legs amputated to compete in the track races. Apparently, if one believes Mr. Pistorius, not all artificial limbs are the same. Longer limbs apparently make one go faster. So how is the Olympics Committee to decide the proper length of the artificial limbs? The longer they make them, the better the chance given to win the race. How high should the Olympics committee make that probability? From the UK Guardian:

It was not a procession or a coronation, but a race, raw and fast. And Pistorius came second. He was beaten to the line by Brazil's Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira, who won in 21.45sec. Pistorius was .07sec behind him. He reacted furiously, telling the TV cameras in his post-race interview that "we aren't racing a fair race".

Pistorius was convinced that the running blades Oliveira was using were too long, and called for the International Paralympic Committee to investigate. This from a man who has had to fight long and hard to overturn doubts about whether or not he himself has an unfair advantage when he is competing against non-disabled runners. . . .